


Little White Boxes

by minusxero



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Romance, unrealistically smart conversations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-09
Updated: 2015-02-09
Packaged: 2018-03-11 07:18:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3318842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minusxero/pseuds/minusxero
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Writing Prompt: Everyone's flaws are listed in a translucent white box above their heads. One day, you meet a man whose 'box' is empty.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Pep-Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jake gets a pep-talk before a blind date.

"I still don't think this is a good idea," I muttered. My sister had coerced me into a blind date last week. Three rounds of 8-ball got me here, and it was all thanks to my best friend Abe. His box included  _"Enjoys watching friends in awkward situations"_. I should've seen it coming.

"Oh come on, big bro. What's the worst that could happen?" My sister took her right hand off the steering wheel to playfully punch me in the shoulder. She missed by about an inch, but the sentiment was there.  _"Motherly to a fault"_ indeed. My designated mover for the evening, Chelsey had cackled in delight as Abe found some way to scratch on the last ball of the game that sealed my fate tonight. A part of me thought this was all planned out far in advance, the other part of me slapped the first part of me in the face and said, "No shit, Sherlock. Chelsey is  _'A habitual schemer'_. That you didn't see this coming a mile away is absolutely TYPICAL."

We arrived at a building in Deep Ellum called The Quixotic World. It didn't look like much. [A surprisingly square building,](http://i.imgur.com/GNrpcNn.jpg) The Quixotic World had deep red brick walls flanked by 5-foot curtained windows. The name of the establishment was adorned on a black banner, the words in a Halloween-esque yellow-orange gradient. I sighed at the sight of the squatty building and stepped out of the cat. I immediately lit up a cigarette and joined my sister in walking up.

Another punch. "What the fuck, douche?! Smoking before a BLIND DATE? Do you WANT to be alone forever?"

"You've discovered my secret plan, Chels. I'm absolutely sabotaging your master plan in the ultimate hope of being able to live in complete and utter solitude." I raised my smoking hand towards the cloudy sky above, taking an exaggerated dramatic stance. "Curse you Gods, for allowing my own flesh and blood to see through my ultimate RUUUUUUUSE!"

And there goes punch number three.  _"Sarcastic to a fault"_  shouldn't be a flaw.

We reach the door to The Quixotic World and Chelsey has me stop. "Let me go inside and test the waters first," she says, as she walks into the building. I take the time to finish my cigarette and browse reddit on my phone when I hear the doors open again. I turn to see my sister and Abe walking out, talking and laughing.

"Jake!" Abe saunters over to me and takes me in for a huge bear hug, lifting me in the air.  _"Uncomfortably affectionate towards friends and family"_. At this point it isn't really a flaw in my book, but I don't decide these things. As my best friend allows my feet to reunite with the ground, I make a point of grimacing.

"Chelsey," I began, "you know that 1) it isn't a blind date if I know who my date is, 2) I totally don't swing that way, and 3) I don't really have a third point but it sounds better to have a number 3, right?"

 _"Sarcastic to a fault,"_  she muttered. "Obviously Abraham is your date's designated mover for the night. She's inside right now. We just want to lay down some ground rules before you go in."

"You mean I'm NOT going in blind? You guys are really bad with this it seems."

"Jake!" shrilled my sister. "This is serious! You're 26 and you haven't had a serious relationship in 5 years. I love you to death but God help me if you screw this up I don't know what's left. I don't wanna see you die alone!"

"But you want to see me die? Sheesh Chels, cards on the tabl-"

Abe put his hand over my mouth. For once, his face was dead serious. "Dude, I'm going to have to side with Chels on this. We think you and the girl inside could REALLY hit it off. But we don't want you to screw this up for yourself."

"What makes you think I would..."

_"Self-deprecating to a fault"_  
 _"Non-existent self-esteem"_

"Okay. Tips."

And in came the flurry of suggestions. If you were to ask me, I'd have thought they'd rehearsed this earlier. They probably did.

"Don't talk about basketball; you're on a date. With a girl."  
"No one cares about why Marvel is succeeding and DC is not."  
"Ben Affleck is NOT going to be a good A man dressed like a bat, no matter what you say. That's not necessarily for the date, I just wanted to say that."  
"Everything you geek about, please don't bring it up until, well, you're married."  
"And please, please, for the love of God and all that is holy-"  
"Do"  
"Not"  
"Fucking"  
"On the first date?"  
"Jesus, Abe. Not the time."  
"SING!"  
"Do not sing!"

"What?!" I exclaimed. "No singing? I have a great voice!"

"Yeah dude, you really do. But this is a date. Let's not turn it into a one-person karaoke night."

"Shouldn't we get inside, maybe get this date actually started?"

"PROMISE US!"

I sighed in annoyance. "Fine, fine, I agree to your terms and conditions." I raised an eyebrow. "I'm just gonna say, it's not going to go well if I do though."

Chelsey rolled her eyes in annoyance. Abe fought to supress a smirk.

"Alright then! Let's do this!" Abe pulled a black cloth out of his left pocket.

"What the fuck is that for?!"

"C'mon," said Chelsey. "It isn't really a blind date if you can see your date's flaws."

And the blindfold went on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Quixotic World is a real place in Downtown Dallas. The outside of the building as seen by Jake can be viewed here: http://i.imgur.com/GNrpcNn.jpg


	2. The Blind Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The blindfolds are on. The date begins. This can really only go in one direction.

I'm led into The Quixotic World by the hand. I feel ridiculous, like a child. Wood-panelled floors, if the sound of my feet are any indication. Always loved the sound of shoes on wood floors. Sounds so authoritative or ominous. Or both. Ominitative? Authorinous? Why am I making up words right now?

I'm seated in a chair. It gives slightly to my weight. Feels like velvet cushioning, perhaps? I look both ways, as if crossing the street. As if doing that would alleviate my temporary blindness at all. I could imagine Abe snorting at the sight. He probably WAS somewhere in the building. I audibly sighed.

"Hello?" an uncertain female voice sounded out. She um, sounded cute? Tomboyish? How the hell do you describe how someone sounds? "Is anyone there?"

I sat in silence for a bit. Trying to think of something to say is difficult when you're sitting somewhere unknown, unable to see with what is probably your best friend and sister watching somewhere in the background. "Um, nobody is available to take your call. Please leave a message after the beep and I'll call you back. Thank you and have a great day. Beeeeeeeep."

Great start, Jake. I'm cringing at that, and I'm YOU.

There's a really quick exhale of what I can only assume is amusement at the other side of the table.

"HELP!" she yelled. "I've been kidnapped! Some bald idiot kidnapped me and took me somewhere in Dallas! I'm blindfolded and I have no idea what he's going to do to me! Please, someone help! Track this phone! Oh God noooooooooooooooo beep. End of message. To replay message, press one. To delete message, press three. For other options, press seven."

Holy balls, she's amazing.

"Hi, I'm Jake. Jake Howell." I extended a hand out, out of habit mostly. It took me way too long to realize how stupid that was and retracted the hand.

A giggle. "Sofia," the voice replied. "Sofia Brand." And 3 fingers hit me in the left eye.

"Holy fuck!" I exclaim, while she's saying "Oh my God I'm so sorry!" I stand up and instinctively start pulling at the blindfold before I stop. I hear another chair pushed back and shoes, flats by the sound of them, scurrying in my direction. And a very loud, distinctive bang of a body hitting a table. "SHITBALLS, THAT HURTS."

To hell with this. I pull up the blindfold and am briefly struck by [how nice the inside of The Quixotic](http://i.imgur.com/VKnXPDy.jpg)[1]  looks. Then I look down to find Sofia on the floor and am more-than-briefly struck by how beautiful she is.

She has brown, slightly wavy hair tied up in a ponytail. By my rough approximation, she's for sure shorter than me, by about 4 inches or so. She's wearing a slim white button-up with a red bowtie, slacks, and suspenders. Sofia slowly gets back on her feet, muttering to herself, as she starts taking off her blindfold.

"I swear, this has got to be the most ridicu..." her blindfold is raised up and our eyes meet. Hers widen and for what seems like an eternity, we're just staring at each other.

"Hi."  
"Hi."

At this point, Abe and Chelsey had run over and were apologizing profusely.

"I'm so sorry, I was off-"  
"I was distracted because-"  
"And the bartender was like-"  
"Don't look at each other's boxes, PLEASE-"  
"Nothing happened, I swear!"

Sofia and I looked to the two, and back at each other. She winked at me and my heart did an uneven bar routine fit for the Olympics.

"Kids these days," she says.  
"Young whippersnappers never know their place," I replied.  
"It's the violent television," she nods. "Poisoning their minds."  
I chuckle. "Don't forget the video games. Those Gamestations and Nintendos are nothing but a nuisance to parents like us."  
"They must've had like, 3 marijuanas before tonight's date."  
"THREE WHOLE MARIJUANAS?!" I feigned shock. "I heard on the news someone died from just one." I turned to Abe. "I'm VERY disappointed in you."

Chelsey and Abe exchanged defeated stares. "I don't know why we were worried. They're fucking perfect for each other."  
"We've created a monster," Abe sighed. The two walked off to go back to the bartender.

Sofia and I turned back to each other, and instantly broke into laughter.

"Oh man," I said through tears. "This is going swimmingly."

"Agreed." Sofia wiped her eyes of tears. "Guess we can make do without these, huh?" She placed her finger on the blindfold currently residing on her forehead.

I pondered a moment. "Actually, I think we should put them back on."

"What? Why for? We've already seen each other. What's the point?"

"Well," I started, counting off on my fingers. "I haven't bothered to look at your box at this point, and I'd be tempted. It also seems like it'd still be fun to go through this night without sight. And three, the most important one of all..." I took a dramatic pause. "I'm pretty sure if food is involved, we could finagle those two to feed us by way of 'poor hand-no-eye coordination.'"

There was a devilish glint in Sofia's eye as the implications of voluntary visual impairment dawned on her.

"Good plan. I'm stealing it and claiming it as my own." I pulled her back on her feet and we took our seats. Blindfolds went back down.

"Finagle. Nice word. I'm impressed." she said from across the table.

"I try. I rarely get to use such vocabulary in normal speech. Nice bowtie, by the way."

"Thanks. Bowties are cool."

And she's a Doctor Who fan. Where did they find this one?

"Well, allons-y then. WAITERS!" I cried out. "WE REQUIRE SUSTENANCE."  
"And I don't think I can be trusted with cutlery after what just happened!"  
"Cutlery. Nice word."  
"I try. I rarely get to use such vocabulary in normal speech."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The inside of The Quixotic World can be seen here: http://i.imgur.com/VKnXPDy.jpg


	3. Four Years Gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Four years later, Jake sees something has changed in Sofia.

Sofia walked into the apartment with a slightly larger white box that morning. I noticed it right away. We had been living together for 3 years at this point, and I knew her and her box as well as I knew the back of my hand. As she meekly said hello, I did a quick scan of her list. There was a new one.

_"Unfaithful"_

"And what," I started, holding back anger I knew was coming, "the fuck is THAT?!"

She turned to me, tears in her eyes. "What do you THINK it means, Jake? I fucked up, okay? I got a little drunk last night with my co-workers and..." she stifled a sniffle. "I fucked up."

Suddenly I was up in a rage, pacing the living room madly. A knock from the tenant below stopped my walk. My fists were clenched harder than I could ever have imagined. The hurt in my palms equalled the hurt I felt in my chest.

"Who is he?" I asked quietly.

"Just some random guy, I'm telling you it was a mista-"

"A MISTAKE?!" I exploded. "That's all well and nice, but it doesn't say  _'Made a mistake'_  in your list, does it? No, it says  _'Unfaithful'_. You know that shit doesn't come out, right? What are our friends going to think? What are our FAMILIES GOING TO THINK?"

I resumed pacing. Sofia stood silently at the doorframe of the kitchen, arms hanging uselessly to each side. "It's not like they're going to notice..."

"To HELL they're not gonna notice, Sof. That's what people do." I started towards her. "They scrutinize and scrutinize, judge and tell. You think nobody's going to notice THAT in your box? That's complete bullshit and you know it, hun."

Tears were flowing freely now. "Jake, I love you, I really do, but-"

"Do you, Sof? Do you really? Because obviously you didn't when you decided you were going to whore around with your co-workers last night!"

"That's not fair, Jake."

I kicked the table. She jumped in fright. I walked towards her menacingly.

"You, you don't get to tell me what's fair. I get to be the one that everyone knows is dating, is LIVING, with a girl that now is the proud owner of the SLUT item on the list. Now tell me who the fuck is the asshole walking around with _'Homewrecker'_  over his head and I swear to God-"

"You'll what? Kill him? Walk around with  _'Murderer'_  over your head? And don't you lay a fucking finger on me you son of a bitch. Because while  _'Unfaithful'_  looks bad, do you really want  _'Domestic fucking violence'_  over your head? How the fuck will your office deal with THAT bullshit, Jake?"

I stared at Sof, the girl I love - loved? and in my blurry vision, I could see that she was truly sorry. But despite _"always seeing the best in others to a fault"_ , I don't think I could ever forgive her. The thought shocked me as I came to realize what that meant.

I backed off. My list got shorter and Sofia cracked. I know she saw. Saw what she had done to me. What we were doing to each other. In a final act of rage, I punched the wall. Immediate regret as pain filled my eyes and a howl escaped my throat. As I fell to my knees, knocking from the resident downstairs reemerged.

About a minute of silence, and through the sobs, Sof choked out. "Jake, Jake please. I love you."

"I love you too, Sof. But I don't know if I can deal with..." I gestured vaguely at the apartment, "THIS right now."

I walked into our bedroom and grabbed a travel piece of luggage. Packing. Clothes. Toiletries. I just needed to get out.

Ten minutes later, I heard Sofia walk into and stop in the doorway behind me. "Jake, there's something I have to tell you."

"Save it, Sof. I'm getting out. I need spaaaaaace." I zipped the bag up and grabbed my keys from the nightstand, heading for the door.

"Excuse me."  
"Jake, I-"

"I SAID SAVE IT! I can't DEAL with this. I need some time alone to think." I nudged past her and went through the door. Slam.

As I went down the stairs to my cat, I spied Sof looking out from the balcony. She stared at me for a while as I opened the driver-side door and got in. Starting the cat, I thought to myself,  _I don't think I'll ever see that girl again._ As if on cue, her eyes widened and she ran inside, presumably to cry.

I drove away.

* * *

At about 8PM, I arrived at a motel off of I-45 about midway to Houston. I parked the cat and walked into the front lobby.

"Room for one, please. One night."

The attendant at the front desk started typing. Without thinking, I looked up at his box.  _"Unmotivated. Drug addict. Disrespectful towards women. Homophobic."_  How the hell did this guy get a job?

"Okay so one night stay, for Mr..." the attendant looked up questioning.

"Jake Howell."

"Right-o Jake, lemme get your card and if you could sign here."

Paperwork in my face. I grab a pen and start signing off as the guy at the counter, Joseph going by his tag, ran my card.

"Girl problems, huh?"

The accurate question brought me out of my stupor. "What?"

"Girl problems, man." Joseph leaned back. "Don't worry, women are bitches. You'll find another, am I right? And maybe this time you won't fuck up."

Fuck up? "What the hell are you talking about?" I asked.

"What? Your box, dude. Look at your box."  
"Restroom?"  
"Right over there, sir."

I ran into the restroom without another word and went over to the sink. I looked at myself in the mirror, eyes red from crying and face flush from drinking. I was in a right state. But that aside, I looked up to see my list.

_"Sarcastic to a fault. Self-deprecating to a fault. Non-existent self-esteem. Jealous. Procrastinator."_

My proverbial jaw dropped.

_"Absentee father."_

Father? I'm not a father. Sof and I have talked about it, but we never really...

Sof.

I turned and immediately ran out of the lobby. I could hear Joseph yelling, "Sir, your room key!" before I jumped back in the cat, turned the ignition, and made my way back to Dallas.


	4. Can We Do This?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jake comes home. He and Sof have a talk.

"You're pregnant."

The sentence hung in the air like something that would be found normally hanging in the air. I was back home, sitting at the kitchen table. Sof was pouring coffee into mugs at the counter. I had got back at about 10, and she was in her PJs.

"Yes. It's been about 2 weeks. I was going to tell you, but-"

"But I wouldn't listen? C'mon Sof. It's us. We're Jake and Sof. [We KNOW that trope.](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NotWhatItLooksLike)[1] We LAUGH at that trope. In movies. We make fun of people who fall into that."

"Yeah well trying to avoid plot devices for romantic comedies wasn't exactly the number one priority of shit I was dealing with!" cried Sof as she placed the mugs on the table and took a seat.

"Sorry." Never before have I been so eloquent.

"Yeah, well be sorry. Dick."  
"My name is Jake."  
"For fuck's sake!" Sof muttered, exasperated. "This is serious! We have a kid on the way and you're joking and we've got all this shit between us right now and-" she broke off, unable to speak.

We sat in silence for a while then. Sof, staring at her mug trying not to burst into tears. Me, staring at my mug wondering why the fuck she made decaf.

"You're keeping it?"  
"Of course, I'm keeping it Jake. We've talked about this."  
"It's a pretty big thing to handle."  
"That's what she said."  
"And you're getting on ME for not being serious."  
"I'm allowed to. I'm pregnant. I get to do whatever the fuck I want and lord it over you."  
"Says who?"  
"The Bible." She stroked her chin thoughtfully. "Scientists have done studies. Peer-reviewed research papers. I'm pretty sure Obama is going to sign it into law. Should be getting my Official Pregnant Bitch Card in the mail in 2-4 weeks."  
"Thanks Obama."

We looked at each other finally. Staring into her eyes, I remembered the first time I saw her. Years ago, in Dallas proper. Blind and awkward.

Seems appropriate that we're still there, today. Blind and awkward.

And this is the part where I grab her hand and help her back on her feet.

"Can we do this." I say. Not a question. There's a period there, a finality to it.

"Can we?" She was the voice of uncertainty. "You left. You LEFT. I saw your box on the way out. You were done."

"I was."  
"And now you're not."  
"I'm not. And I know what you're thinking."  
"It's only for the kid."  
"Well it's not. It was just the catalyst. I was in a bad place. Bad time."  
"So was I."  
"I know that now. And I'm sorry."

I reached over to her, took a few stray strands of her hair and gingerly placed them behind her ear. She placed her fingers on my eye, a private joke from that first night. I pulled her in and kissed her.

When we pulled apart, her eyes were welling up and she had a smile on her face.

"You're such an idiot hopeless romantic." Sof winked.  
"Yeah well, last time I checked, that wasn't in my list."  
"No," she replied. "It's not."

Suddenly she started crying again. "The list! What are people going to think? I've got..." she gestured above her, "THIS hovering over me. You were an asshole and angry, but you had a point. What do we do?"

I pondered over it a moment. "We do as we always do. People will judge. We'll take it. We'll work at it, we'll be happy." I did a little half-smirk that I always thought was cool. She didn't. "We'll be so lovey-dovey that people will want to AVOID looking at us."

Sof chucked and pulled me back in for another kiss. "I think I can handle that."

"Good."

We finished our decaf and went to bed. Lying there with my arms around her, I started thinking about our future together. The inevitable looks we'd get. And I decided with certainty: fuck it. We've all got our flaws hanging above us like a thundercloud. We're all going to be judged at some point.

And as long as we're happy, I don't think I could possibly care less.

"Will people talk?" she whispered. Apparently she was still thinking about it too.  
"Fuck'em." I murmured. My body shook with her silent laughter.  
"Can't. Not much in the market for pregnant prostitutes these days."  
"Their loss. It's an arousing fetish."  
"Shut up and sleep."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The trope being spoken of is "Not What It Looks Like", described at the following TVTropes link: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NotWhatItLooksLike


	5. Boxes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jake and Sof greet someone new.

We had to dismiss the first three doctors we met with. The first one was  _"Lacks time management skills"_. The second one had  _"Self-hygiene issues"_. The third, for fuck's sake, was  _"Hates babies"_. Why in the flying dick-hell would you specialize in delivering babies if you hated them? Hospitals, man. I hate them.

The doctor we finally went with, a Felicia Ortega, had probably the shortest list I'd ever seen in my life.  _"Takes pleasure in littering."_  Which is an odd one, but damn. We'll take it! She was, by my guesstimation, in her early 40s with lines in her face indicating years of smiling. Smiling is good. Smiling is happy. We like happy.

Sof and I had got through those first months by the skin of our teeth. By which I mean, barely. Also, who the fuck comes up with these phrases?

There was a lot of talk, to be sure. Abe and Chelsey, for the most part, were supportive of us. Our (and by our, I mean Chels and me) parents and friends? Not so much. My parents in particular took immediately to slandering Sof at any opportunity. We don't talk anymore. Chels will relay messages every now and again, with the pretense that mom and dad were too busy to talk, but it's pretty set in stone that they'll never see their grandson. I had to stop Sof from sending them a spiteful present for Christmas. It was a large white glass box with the words  _"Judgemental Assholes"_ written on it. Serif type. Embossed. Great kerning. After some convincing on my side, she agreed not to send it.

She lied and sent it anyways. I pretend to be mad at her about it. Truthfully, it's fucking hilarious and it makes me love her all the more.

We stopped going out to social events after the fourth party in a row of a  _"Homewrecker"_  attempting to hit on Sof based on her list. It was pathetic, really. All people see are those words and assume that's exactly who that person is. They look at flaws and see advantages.

We spend a lot of time at bookstores now. Everyone is too busy looking down or ahead to notice or care about what's floating above them. It's a weird sort of solitude, but she thrived on it. That first day we bought The Scarlet Letter. It seemed apropos, in our weird demented way.

The guys at the office lost a lot of respect for me over the months. "How could you stay with someone like that?" they'd ask. "You're fuckin' whipped, Howell." My nickname at the office became "Grovel". Aside from my initial surprise that those dolts actually knew that word, I mostly used their barbed words to motivate me more. I married Sof a week later.

"GET YOUR MIND BACK IN THIS ROOM JAKE, BEFORE I FUCK IT WITH A RAKE!" screeched my wife.

I snapped out of my stupor and turned to Sof, currently delivering. I kneeled back down and grabbed her hand. Her hair was in complete disarray, face flush from labor.

As beautiful as the day I met her.

"Sorry, hun. Was trying to distract myself from not passing out in the delivery room."  
"I swear to Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah," she took a breath. "This is not a fucking TV show. I've got a demon exiting the TARDIS we call my womb and I need you to make sure things don't get wibbly-fucking-wobbly!"  
I kissed her cheek and gripped harder on her hand. "I love when you speak Gallifreyan to me."  
"You think, you're funny," she panted, "but I'm about to finish the job on your eyes that I started at the Qui-OOOOOOH FUCK"  
"I see the head, Sofia!" said Dr. Ortega.  
"Holy crap!" I yelled, as I let go of Sof's hand to take a look.

* * *

I awoke on the floor and a throbbing headache. "Jesus fuck," I muttered. It took me a minute to get a hold of my bearings, but as I stood up, I saw my wife, my beautiful Sof, lying there with a clothed bundle in her arms. She raised her eyebrow.

"Look who's up. Should probably add  _"Pussy"_  to that list of yours."  
"Well," I started. "It's NOT on my list."  
"No," she beamed, "it's not."

I walked over and pulled a chair towards the bed. I sat down and put my hand on Sof's shoulder. "How is he?"

"He's perfect, Jake." She looked down and touched her finger to the bundle of baby in her arms. "Hey Peter. Daddy's here."

My heart exploded. Metaphorically. "You decided on Peter?"  
"WE decided on Peter," she corrected. "I know you like the Fourth Doctor, but Tom is too boring a name. Peter is a double whammy. Five and Twelve in one go."  
I pondered a bit. "Peter Howell... it'll grow on me I guess."  
"It better. We don't get a second go at this."  
"Well, we COULD get a second go..." I murmured, scratching my chin.  
"Unless you're planning on carrying next time around, ABSOLUTELY NOT." Sof glared daggers at me a moment, then softened. "Wanna hold him?"  
"I mean, I guess so," I grinned, quickly scooping up Peter into my arms.

The baby opened his brown eyes and cooed before closing again for sleep. "Hi, little guy." I choked a bit, a tear fell down my cheek. "I'm your dad."

As I rocked him, I glanced up out of habit at the box above Peter's head. It was small and white, with absolutely nothing in it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Interesting tidbits about this story.
> 
> 1\. The main character, Jake, is named such because that was originally what my parents were going to name me. Which, if you knew me in person, doesn't match in any way whatsoever.
> 
> 2\. This story takes place in Dallas, which is currently where I live. The place described in the first two parts of the story is actually where the /r/Dallas[1] group holds a yearly "Reddit Prom". Just imagine a normal high school prom but BYOB along with open bar, a live band made up of redditors, a lot of socializing and having a great time and little to no awkwardness. And forget that "normal high school prom" part.
> 
> 3\. The flaws listed by Abe and Chelsey are my own. Among writing, I have ridiculous obsessions in regards to basketball, comic books, and karaoke. And a few others.
> 
> 4\. I went into this story with the intent of writing dialogue that everyone wishes they had the wit for in real life. I felt it made for a great dynamic method of showing the compatibility of the couple.
> 
> 5\. One of the main points I found really interesting about the prompt was exploring the idea that there isn't anything you can hide when your flaws are literally floating above you. The blindfold scene is both a play on the term "blind date" and something I thought would make perfect sense for meeting someone for the first time.
> 
> 6\. I also figured it would be difficult to hide certain secrets in a world constructed like this. This is explored in the "unfaithful" arc of the story. The characters' reactions to this along with the unnamed man labeled a "homewrecker" play with this aspect. Sofia's warning to Jake regarding violence was an interesting blackmailing element that I would like to, some time in the future, explore in a different context, possibly in the same world.
> 
> 7\. The ending was already decided before the story began. In fact, it was the first thing I thought of when I reading the prompt for the first time. The journey to the ending wound up taking a lot more story to reach than I expected. And by the time I started leading up to it, the story was more about the couple than the kid or even the prompt itself.


End file.
